Eternal duo
by 6-4 pilot
Summary: The Eternal Empire had taken everything from both the Galactic Republic and Sith Empire, killing most of their best heroes and champions. Their last hope remains on two of the greatest heroes of the Sith Empire. If they fail, then everything will remain under the clutches of the Eternal Empire.
1. Chapter 1

**You know, aside from criticism I had in terms of writing, I actually really enjoy the Knight of the Old republic expansion. Though one thing that bothers me is that the non-force user characters can beat Arcann and other powerful force users. That and the reunions/handling with previous companions were, quite frankly, boring, short, and rushed. So might as well try my own take on the story with my two favorite classes.**

**The names of both the Bounty Hunter and Sith Inquisitor were taken from a friend of mine. (They were from the random name generator so to explain the weirdness of their names.)**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

**Zakuul**

**High security vault**

* * *

In a high security vault, there was a single chamber that was dedicated to a single occupant. The sole occupant was stuck in a Carbonite bed, meaning they were defenseless and unable to do anything until someone thawed them out, which was something that the Eternal Empire didn't want. Unfortunately for them, people were doing just that.

"Come on." Said a blond woman as she watched the Carbonite bed thaw out its occupant. As it did so, she looked behind herself, praying that no Sky troopers or Knights of Zakuul will come and investigate this chamber. While she was confident in dealing with them, she wasn't sure that the prisoner was capable of fighting them at his current condition. Carbonite freezing had some severe side effects if the occupant was frozen for too long.

Once the occupant was completely thawed out, the woman grabbed them and gave them a Kolto shot, hoping that it would help them recover. Tossing away the shot, the woman looked at the person through the force, just in case this was really the person she was looking for.

Inspecting the man, she saw that he wore the grey helmet of his ancestor and the robes/armor that complimented it, but that meant nothing to her if the person wasn't the one that she was looking for. For all she knew, this was an imposter and that the real one had died when the war broke out.

Delving deep, she sighed in relief when she saw the force presence of the man in her arms was the same one that Darth Imperius had when she first met him.

Just as she finished sighing, the man groaned as he stirred.

"What…what happened? Where am I?" Asked Darth Imperius as he stirred, getting away from the woman's arms and standing up, only for him to fall to the ground, still too weak from the Carbon freezing.

"Take it easy." Said the woman as she helped Imperius up. "You've been frozen in carbon for half a decade. You need time to recover. Time that we don't have at the moment." Upon hearing that, Imperius looked at the woman and widened his eyes in shock.

"Lana Beniko?" Asked Imperius as he saw the blond woman, recognizing her as the Sith in charge of Sith Intelligence. "What's going on?"

"I'll explain later, but we first need to get you out of here." Said Lana as she held Imperius and dragged him out of the champers. As she did so, she activated a wrist communicator on her left arm and spoke. "Koth! I got him. Get ready for a quick extraction!"

"You better hurry up, Lana." Said this Koth. "Because Sky troopers are coming right at you. Some of the gang is trying to divert their attention, but I don't think it'll work on all of them. I'm pulling them back, we stay any longer than we have to and we'll be toast. We'll try to get to the extraction point. Hopefully, the others have secured it now. By the way, our bounty hunter friend is coming your way to help out. Guess he misses your captive, huh?"

"I wouldn't be surprised." Said Lana, recalling the friendship that Imperius had with another, sort of, hero of the Sith Empire. "They've been friends before they became what they are now. Just pick us up now! We're almost outside." She then ended the call before focusing on carrying Imperius. "Just a few more minutes. Hang in there." Imperius, however, was slipping in and out of consciousness. The effects of Carbonite sickness were worsening as time went on. Using the force, Imperius did his best to heal his body, but so far, it's merely slowing the sickness.

Feeling Imperius fading away, Lana cursed before bringing out another Kolto injector.

"Stay with me." Said Lana as she gave Imperius another Kolto shot. "It wouldn't do if the great Darth Imperius died from Carbonite sickness." Imperius would have shot a remark when a trio of white-colored droids came out a door and saw the two Sith. Aiming their blasters, they would have fired when they were suddenly bombarded with missiles and blaster bolts, tearing them all apart.

"You bloody droids can't do anything right, can you?" Asked the culprit as he came out of the same door that the droids used. The culprit wore brown Mandalorian armor with blue strips on the shoulders. The armor was custom build to handle additional missiles and slug throwers on the wrists along with the usual Mandalorian gear of flamethrowers and wire traps.

Twirling both of his heavy blasters in his hands, the Mandalorian put them into their holsters before looking at the two Sith.

"God damn, Lana. I thought you said that this would be an easy mission. Get in and get out, right?" Asked the Mandalorian as he went over to them.

"It was supposed to, but it seems that Arcann truly wants our friend to remain imprisoned for eternity." Said Lana as she struggled to lift Imperius. "For such a small man, you're surprisingly heavy."

"If you were anyone else, Lana, I would shock you for that." Said Imperius as he started to recover, albeit slowly, with the force.

"Even me?" Asked the Mandalorian bounty hunter as he went to help his friend and escort him out of this dreaded vault.

"Even you, you man-whore." Said Imperius as they made it to a security checkpoint. Laying Imperius on the ground, Lana began to slice into the security mainframe on a nearby console, hopping to both delay the Sky troopers from finding them and to open any security doors that get in their way. As she was doing this, the bounty hunter knelt down to examine his friend. He may not have much training in the field of medicine, usually leaving that to his crew that were skilled in that sort of thing, he could tell that the time in Carbonite really did a number on his Sith friend.

"Got to get you to Mako as soon as possible." Said the bounty hunter as he gave his friend another Kolto shot along with some painkillers. "Otherwise, we'll need to raid a hospital to get back all the Kolto we're using to save your scrawny butt. Imperius just laughed.

"The Force will preserve me, Xigolo." Said Imperius. "No need to raid hospitals for me."

"Good." Said the bounty hunter as he finished treating his friend. "Cause I don't want to be compared to that idiot smuggler, rest his soul." Upon hearing that, Imperius looked at his friend.

"What do you mean?" Asked Imperius. Was the Voidhound really dead? Upon hearing that question, Xigolo sighed.

"It's a long story, man. Let's just say you and me are the only ones left of the gang." Said Xigolo. Before he could explain, Lana suddenly cursed loudly.

"Blast! Vaylin is coming!" Yelled Lana as she slammed the console controls in frustration. "Xigolo! Take Xildroll and get him to the extraction point! I'll try to draw Vaylin off you!"

"Better stay alive, Beniko!" Yelled Xigolo as he grabbed Xildroll and held him bridal style. "It'd be a shame if your fine body is in a casket!" Before Lana could fully comprehend what, he said, Xigolo took off, leaving her alone.

"***Sighs*** I'm pushing you off a cliff." Said Lana shaking her head. Looking back at the console, she frowned as Vaylin broke the neck of a knight of Zakuul before leaving to find Imperius.

Eager to create a distraction for her, Lana began a building wide lockdown, forcing all the blast doors shut.

"Uhh, Lana, scans show the building is on lockdown. That you're doing?" Asked Koth as he looked at his ship's scanners.

"I had to, Vaylin is here." Said Lana as she began to make her escape. "Have T7 ready the secondary escape ship. Xigolo is coming with the cargo."

"Got it!" Said Koth, hiding his fear of Vaylin. "We're on our way. If we all survive this, I'm buying the drinks."

**"If we get out of this."** Thought Lana as she heard metal blast doors being ripped apart, knowing who was doing it. **"Xigolo, you womanizer, you better get Imperius out of here or else I'm going to hurt you beyond your wildest imagination."**

* * *

**Bounty Hunter-Harem**

**Sith Inquisitor- Acina, Ashara**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

* * *

**Zakuul**

* * *

"Hold on tight." Said Xigolo as he landed on a landing dock before taking off again for a higher one. Xildroll just looked around, looking for anyone that might be trying to catch them.

"This extraction point, is it close?" Asked Xildroll, not exactly happy that he was a damsel in distress.

"Just need to do two more jumps." Said Xigolo. "Hopefully Koth and the others have it secured. If they don't, we're going to have to fight until they do." Xildroll groaned at that. Despite his abilities with the force, he was still weak, weakened from the Carbonite freezing. If they had to fight, they better not fight any powerful force users.

While Xigolo was a capable bounty hunter, able to take down both Sith and Jedi warriors, he wasn't powerful enough to face someone like Darth Malgus or Marr in a one to one fight. In fact, during the battle against Darth Malgus, he and the other non-force users were, essentially, stuck supporting Xildroll and other force users like the Hero of Tython and the Emperor's Wrath while they did the work on Malgus.

If this Vaylin was as powerful as Lana indicated she was, then they had no chance.

"Hold on tight cause I just ran out of fuel." Said Xigolo as his backpack and thruster packs ran out of fuel, sending them crashing to their destination. Grunting, Xigolo covered Xildroll as they tumbled onto the landing platform. Once they stopped rolling, Xigolo lifted Xildroll up and escorted him to the designated platform.

"Koth! We're at the extraction point! Where are you!?" Asked Xigolo as they went to the landing platform, seeing no ship or Koth anywhere.

"Uhh, little busy!" Yelled Koth as he maneuvered his ship from laser fire coming from a Zakuul fighter. "Got a bogey on our tail! Give me a minute to shake him off!"

"We don't have a minute!" Yelled Xigolo. "Just give HK a missile launcher and he'll take the fighter out!"

"Are you kidding?! I'm not trusting that robot with a launcher after last time!" Said Koth as he did an aileron role. "And don't bring up the Jawa! I'm also not trusting him!"

"You bastard! If we die here because of your mistrust, I'm going to beat your ass up once you come to the afterlife!" Yelled Xigolo.

"Duly noted!" Yelled Koth as he continued to evade the fighter.

"Stupid Zakuulian." Said Xigolo as he went over to Xildroll, who was leaning on some crates. "Looks like we're staying here for a while. Got any questions to pass the time?"

"What happened to the others? The Empire's wrath? Cypher Nine?" Asked Xildroll as he looked at Xigolo. Upon seeing him sigh, Xildroll knew it was bad.

"They're dead. Along with all the other Republic heroes. The slayer of the emperor. The leader of the rift alliance. The Voidhound. The leader of Havoc squad. They're all dead. Died in the war against the Eternal empire." Said Xigolo.

"How?" Asked Xildroll, stunned beyond belief. Those six were some of the greatest warriors and force-users in the galaxy. How could they fall to the Eternal Empire?

"Things went to hell after you and Marr were gone." Said Xigolo. "About a day after you guys went missing, the Eternal Empire declared that you assassinated their emperor before declaring war on us. About a second after that, give or take, massive fleets of star ships invaded key systems in both the Empire and the Republic, taking them with minimal losses. Isotope-5 equipped ships. Silencer dreadnaughts. Voss Mystics. Weapons that helped turn the tide in the Galactic War only slowed the Eternal Empire advance. Within a year, they blockaded both Dromund Kaas and Coruscant. That pretty much ended the war and both sides surrendered within the beginning of the 2nd year. And because of the war, both governments have to pay a heavy tithe to Zakuul, usually in raw materials." Xildroll couldn't believe it. All his work in getting the Silencer project going. The Isotope-5 operation. It all was for naught.

"What happened to Moff Pyron and my silencers?" Asked Xildroll. The old Moff was a competent officer and a man he respected.

"Don't worry, just because I said your silencers only slowed them down, doesn't mean they all went boom. The old man is still alive, and the majority of your silencers are fine. I can confirm that much. Last I heard, empress Acina last orders to him and your fleet was head for the unknown regions of space to rebuild the empire's military." Though he was relieved to hear that, he was confused to hear that Acina was empress.

"Acina is empress?" Asked Xildroll, recalling the woman that was the latest dark council member in charge of the Sphere of technology, after the deaths of the others that took the seat.

"Oh yeah, your number two girlfriend slash fellow council member is now the queen bitch of the entire Sith empire. No offense to you and her." Said Xigolo. Growling a bit at how Xigolo titled Acina as queen bitch, Xildroll motioned him to continue.

"Anyway, she became empress without much argument from the other Sith. Reason why was because nearly everyone else in the council was dead or missing. Mortis, being the coward he is, ran away when the Eternal Empire came for Dromund Kaas, abandoning the world to save his own hide. Ravage, out of stupidity, fought them on Korriban when they came for it and got him and his fleet killed. Out of all the remaining councils, only Vowrawn remained and he supported Acina's ascension to the throne. No idea why. Then again, the guy is getting it with the age, even with the force on his side. Whatever the reason is, he and Acina surrendered to the Eternal Empire once they came for Dromund Kaas, sparing the city from a lot of destruction. Some Sith call them cowards for it, but honestly, they made the right call. Not like the Republic."

"What do you mean?" Asked Xildroll, wondering what the Republic did in the war.

"Know that bitch Twi'lek Chancellor? The green one with a name starting with S?" Asked Xigolo.

"You mean Saresh?" Asked Xildroll, feeling anger at the mention of the Twi'lek chancellor.

"Yeah, crazy bitch kept fighting against the Eternal Empire even when Coruscant was blockaded. To make matters worse, during the war, she fought both Sith Empire and the Eternal Empire, wasting resources for both sides." Said Xigolo, shaking his head at Saresh, remembering how he had to save a vital Imperial space station from a Republic fleet that was supposed to protect Balmorra while the Eternal Empire was attacking Balmorra. "If it wasn't for the Republic Senate impeaching her and replacing her with a more level-headed guy, Coruscant would be in a state even worse than what you Sith pulled during the first Galactic War." Xildroll growled in anger at Saresh. Was she that short-sighted in her hate to ignore the fact that there was another empire that wanted both Republic and Sith Empire blood.

"What about the heroes. The Hero to Tython? The Empire's Wrath? What happened to all of them?" Asked Xildroll.

"***Sighs*** Remember how we used to say that, if we were all together, both Empire and Republic heroes, no one can stand against us?" Asked Xigolo. Upon seeing Xildroll nod, he continued. "Well, the others didn't. Because they all died separate from each other." Xigolo sighed again, remembering everyone and how they died. "The Barsen'thor, think that's how you say it, died when the Eternal Empire attacked Balmorra. Since Balmorra was a part of his Rift Alliance, he had to defend it. Even with his Esh-kha horde, the Voss mystics in his command, and his own Force powers, he couldn't turn the tide. From what I've heard, he sacrificed himself to buy time for civilians and wounded to escape."

"He always was selfless." Said Xildroll.

"Damn straight." Said Xigolo. "As for Havoc squad and Cypher nine. They were sent in to attack Arcann himself. They had no chance in a straight up fight, so they infiltrated into his flagship with a stolen shuttle and tried to overload the reactor, taking out Arcann." Xigolo then clenched his fists. "But somehow, I don't know how, Arcann figured out their plan and was waiting for them in the reactor room with some of his best knights. They retreated, but they knew Arcann would be on their tail in a matter of moments. So, to make sure that some of them escape, the Meteor along with his droid and his Weequay sealed themselves in a room with Arcann. They died to ensure that the others escape." He sighed again. "The fact that Cypher Nine escaped and not him was a sore point for the Republic and they never worked with the Sith Empire ever again."

"The hero of Tython and the Voidhound? What about them?" Asked Xildroll.

"Coruscant happened. If Saresh hadn't ordered the fleet to attack, they might still be alive and be here getting you out." Said Xigolo, causing hatred to burn in both him and Xildroll for Saresh. "Smuggler bastard and his whole fleet tried their best, but they got overwhelmed by the sheer number of ships that Arcann brought for Coruscant. Crazy bastard smashed his own ship to stop an Eternal empire battlegroup from bombarding Coruscant with turbolaser fire. Took them all out, but he lost his life. As for the Hero of Tython. He faced Arcann himself. Alone. None of his crew around to help him out. He ordered them to help evacuate or save people from the Eternal Empire. His lover, Kira, claimed they fought for hours until eventually, due to exhaustion from fighting the Eternal Empire on Coruscant for days, he fell, his head sliced off by Arcann."

"Arcann fought him to a standstill?" Asked Xildroll in disbelief. The hero of Tython was the strongest of the four Republic heroes. Out of the four Sith heroes, only the Empire's wrath was able to match him in force powers and skills. While Xildroll outmatched him in force power, that was his only thing. The hero of Tython bested him in martial skill and will power, something that was not so an easy feat. Even Marr was reluctant to face the Hero of Tython in battle. To hear, Arcann not only fought him to a standstill but best him, left Xildroll quiet. After a minute, he spoke again.

"Cypher Nine and the wrath are dead too, aren't they?" Asked Xildroll. Xigolo nodded.

"Yeah, they fell on Korriban. They faced Vaylin, the one that Lana was scared about. Even with their combined power, they fell to her." Said Xigolo, frustration in his voice. "Bitch fought them when they were exhausted from fighting Zakuul knights and droids. If she faced them when they were at their best, she would be dead." Xigolo sighed.

"What about you? How did you survive?" Asked Xildroll. Xigolo sighed.

"I was on Alderaan during all this, protecting House Thul and Girard from the Eternal Empire. Officially it was because house Thul paid for my assistance. Unofficially…***Sighs* **wanted to protect my kids and wives." Xildroll shook his head at that.

Some years ago, during a celebration of house Thul over some great battle against Organa, that Xildroll, having been invited along with Xigolo to attend, learned that Xigolo had gotten the head of house Girard, a supporter of House Thul, pregnant along with Lady Elana, someone that helped him during his time as an apprentice to Lord Zash. Upon hearing that, he shocked his friend hard, claiming he better be paying child support. Xigolo just said he deserved that before falling unconscious.

To the Empire's wrath horror and Xildroll's disappointment, both Lady Elana and lady Aitalla were fine with it, even open to the idea of Xigolo falling in love with another woman. Alderaanian nobles.

Shaking his head as he remembered how conflicted he was upon hearing of it, Xildroll looked at Xigolo.

"Are they both alive?" Asked Xildroll.

"Yeah. Aitalla, Elana, and the kids are fine." Said Xigolo. "Alderaan wasn't hit as bad as Balmorra or Correlia, but the Eternal Empire sent enough ships for Thul to hire me and some of the best mercenaries in the payroll. We fought a good fight, but Acina eventually ordered Thul and the Imperial garrison to surrender. Smart move, because the Eternal empire sent a big fleet on us just days after that declaration. Organa, likely due to Saresh, fought them and paid for it dearly. Lot of jedi and republic soldiers died that day and Organa isn't too happy with the Republic. Anyway, both houses are still fighting, but Arcann doesn't care. Long as they pay their tithe on time." Xigolo shook his head. "All in all, things are going to hell." Xildroll couldn't help but lower his head, wrapping his head in astonishment.

"What about my crew? Are they fine?" Asked Xildroll.

"Yeah. They're…" Xigolo couldn't say anymore when he spotted some Skytroopers coming at them. "Shit. Koth better be here soon." He then brought out his blasters before aiming them at the incoming Skytroopers. "About god damn time you droids showed up. I was playing twenty questions for at least ten minutes. Are they skipping out on processors?" He then looked around, counting at least a dozen Skytrooper droids. "***Scoffs*** You're going to need more than droids to take me on." As if to punish him, two men in golden armor appeared, their blue visors burning brightly. "Shit. Knights of Zakuul."

"Knights?" Asked Xildroll as he got up behind some crates, ready to fight if he had to.

"Force users. Basically, force users that are special police dogs." Said Xigolo as he aimed his blasters at the knights. "Only sending two? I'm a little offended. You need a lot more if you want face us." The knight didn't listen and faced the two as the droids surrounded both Xigolo and Xildroll.

"Outlander! You're guilty of assassinating our immortal emperor!" Yelled the bigger knight. Xildroll can feel the hatred coming from both knights.

"And you are guilty of freeing him!" Yelled the shorter one. "Surrender now and face judgement for your crimes!"

"Blah blah blah." Said Xigolo. "Can you knights do anything other than talk? Here's my answer for both of us." Xigolo then blasted two droids before going to the ground and firing a missile at the feet of four, taking them out. Xildroll, confident that he healed enough, unleashed force lightning on the remaining six, destroying them and sending robotic parts all over the landing pad.

"So be it!" Yelled the shorter one before bringing out a staff, which soon emitted a single blue blade from a tip. He then charged at Xigolo, who rolled out of the way and fired at the knight, keeping his distance from the force user.

The bigger one went for Xildroll, also bringing out a lightsaber pike, charging at the Sith with righteous fury. Sending force lightning, Xildroll watched as the knight used his pike to endure the lightning as he got close. Gritting his teeth, Xildroll used one hand to send a crate against the knight, only for the knight to force jump out of the way. Looking up, Xildroll rolled out of the way as the knight slammed his pike at the floor where Xildroll used to be.

Seeing him try to get his pike out of the floor, Xildroll sent force lightning again at the knight, this time landing a hit.

Screaming, the knight endured the lightning and used the force to send a crate at Xildroll. Sensing it, Xildroll used the force to hold the crate in place, inches from his body. Overwhelming the knight's own hold on the crate, Xildroll sent it flying at the shocked knight, forcing him away from his pike and away from his lightning.

Xildroll was about to cast more lightning when waves of pain coursed through his body.

"**Not now!"** Thought Xildroll as the pain prevented him from concentrating. Despite the fact his opponent was weak, the knight decided it was time to leave. Force jumping to another platform, he yelled his companion to retreat before taking off.

Unfortunately, his companion was too engaged in his fight with Xigolo to hear him. The knight was deflecting bolt after bolt as Xigolo tried to keep him back. He tried firing a missile at the knight, but the knight jumped toward him, aiming his pike at Xigolo's heart.

Stopping himself from firing his missile, Xigolo jumped back to avoid the pike, but the knight, anticipating this threw his pike at Xigolo.

Widening his eyes in shock, Xigolo tried to avoid it, but the pike still managed to hit his right calf. Yelling out in pain, Xigolo went to the ground in pain as the pike stayed in his calf. As the knight approached the bounty hunter, he spoke.

"This is what happens to all that defy Zakuul!" Yelled the knight as he grabbed his pike from Xigolo's calf. He was about to send it crashing through his head, when another pike was sent through his chest.

"Not this time." Said Xildroll before sending the pike deeper into the knight's chest. As the knight choked on his own blood, Xigolo aimed one of his blasters at the Knight's head and peppered it with energy bolts, killing him. As the knight fell to the ground in a slump, Xigolo got up, ignoring the pain in his calf, before firing more bolts at the knight.

"Damn. Please tell me you can heal me." Said Xigolo as he went to the ground to examine his calf.

"Yeah. Just give me a moment." Said Xildroll as he went over to Xigolo, ignoring the pain coursing through his body. Knelling down, he healed Xigolo's calf using the dark side. Once he was done, the wound was completely healed.

"Force powers. Really useful." Said Xigolo as he got up. "Koth better be here before more show up." To ask the man himself, Xigolo contacted Koth using his helmet. "Koth, you better be quick. They found us. And it's only a matter of time before Vaylin shows up."

"Don't worry. We lost our bogey. We're coming to pick you up. Just give us under three minutes." Said Koth as he piloted the ship to the extraction point.

"Three minutes!? That was what you said while that guy was on our tail! And it took ten minutes for you to…" Xigolo cut the comms off before he could hear more, not interested at all to hear the argument. Looking over at Xildroll, he saw him looking over the city that they were in.

"Thinking?" Asked Xigolo as he went over to his friend.

"Yes." Said Xildroll. "So much has changed. Much not for the better. Can we really win against this Eternal Empire?"

"Not sure, but it's better than not trying at all." Said Xigolo, causing Xildroll to nod. Before they could speak more, Xildroll sensed a power presence in the force. Something that reminded him greatly of the Sith Emperor.

Looking over his shoulder, Xildroll saw a woman with black clothing coming over to them, a squad of Skytroopers with her.

"Ah shit. Vaylin." Said Xigolo as he brought out his blasters.

"The same one that killed the Empire's wrath?" Asked Xildroll as he readied for a fight. Even from here, he could feel her immense powers with the Force. It surpassed even his own force powers when he had all four ghosts of previous Sith lords in his body.

"The same." Said Xigolo as he backed off. "We can't fight her. We need to run." Normally, Xildroll would comment on this, but Xigolo was right. With his weakened state and him out of fuel for his thrusters, they weren't ready to take this Vaylin on. Especially if her presence in the force is an indication of her power. As the two backed away, Vaylin laughed.

"So, this is the great Darth Imperius? One of the greatest Sith in his generation." Said Vaylin, examining Xildroll. "I'm not impressed. Your friend, the Empire's wrath, was more impressive than you. He was able to give me some fun before he died along with that blue-skinned alien. I hope you can do the same." Fury gathering in him for what she said about his friends, Xildroll was about to launch lightning on her when a gunship appeared before him.

"Get down!" Yelled Koth as the gunship fired its guns at Vaylin and her guards. Though the Skytroops were easily dealt with, Vaylin managed to rip a piece of metal from the landing pad to shield herself.

"Run! To the ship!" Yelled Xigolo as he rushed toward the bay doors of the gunship. Xildroll, knowing when to retreat, ran with Xigolo as the gunship's doors went fully down. As Xigolo entered the gunship, Vaylin launched her piece of metal at the gunship, damaging it, causing fires to come from both the outside and inside of the ship, sending it in an uncontrollable spin, just as Xildroll made it in.

As the ship spun, Xildroll was sent tumbling out and nearly fell if it wasn't for Xigolo and another, slimmer hand.

"Got you!" Yelled Xigolo as he pulled his Sith friend up. "Mako, don't let go!" Looking up, Xildroll could see that the other hand that grabbed him was Xigolo's tech specialist and closets compatriot, Mako.

"Come on!" Yelled Mako as they lifted him up with great effort. Once they did, they quickly got out of the landing ramp and into the ship. Closing the ramp, Mako went over to a raging fire that was currently being attended to by a Jawa and a yellow and black HK unit.

"Koth get us the fuck out of here!" Yelled Xigolo as he went over to the cockpit.

"You think I'm not trying to do that!?" Asked Koth as he stabilized the ship enough for it to fly them out of here. "Just need to get out of the city and we're free." Just as he said that, he flew past some anti-air guns, which began tracking them and open fired on them, hitting them several times, causing more fires to break out.

"Damnit." Said Koth as alarms blared out throughout the ship. "Come on. Come on."

"We're going to die." Deadpanned Xigolo as he braced himself for a fiery explosion. "And I wanted to see my kids grow up." Before Xildroll could force lightning him, the anti-air guns suddenly stopped firing. As everyone tried to comprehend this, Xigolo got a transmission from a secure line. Knowing who it was, Xigolo answered.

"Some guns that were firing on us stopped. That your doing, Lana?" Asked Xigolo.

"T7 is staying behind to monitor Zakuul. Good decision because it looks like he managed to save your lives." Said Lana as she flew a small Zakuul fighter. "I'm tracing your transmission right now, I'll be there as soon as possible."

"Good, I want to see that cute face of yours." Said Xigolo, causing both Mako and Lana to scoff at him. After ending the call, Xigolo looked at Xildroll. "Let's get back to twenty questions."

"Uh can you do that after we clear the fires?" Asked Mako as she put one out and went to another.

"Nope." Said Xigolo as he looked at Xildroll. "Besides, he needs to know what happened to his crew." Xildroll nodded before speaking.

"Where's Ashara? Khem?" Asked Xildroll.

"Relax man. They're all fine." Said Xigolo. "Khem, along with Andronikos, is waiting for us on some planet called Asylum. Place is free from Eternal Empire forces, so we should be safe there. For a time anyway." He then heard an explosion coming from the other side of the ship. "That is if we can actually get there in one piece." As the Jawa from before went to fix their ship, Xigolo continued. "As for Ashara…I don't know where she is. About a month after you went missing, she left, not telling us where she's going. She's still alive, from what my sources told me, but she's moving from planet to planet every so often, never staying in one place. If you want to meet up with her, it'll take some doing." Xildroll hummed at that before asking about Talos and Xalek.

"Your other apprentice is fine. He's currently serving Acina as one of top enforcers. Talos went back to the Imperial Reclamation Service branch, though I'm betting if you ask, he'll come back to you in a heartbeat. As for your droid…eh I don't know where he is. Along with your ship for that matter." Xildroll sighed at that.

"Can't have everything safe, can I?" Asked Xildroll, causing Xigolo to nod. "We need to contact the Empire. Get their help in this war against Zakuul."

"I don't know if we can get their help, man. Even with your girlfriend as Empress, it'll be suicide to attack the Eternal Empire with what they got. The Empire will get obliterated by the Eternal Fleet. No, we need to lay low, figure out a game plan." Xildroll sighed, knowing Xigolo was right.

"I still want to go to Dromund Kaas. See how much has changed." Said Xildroll, recalling the planet he was born. "And possibly get back my seat while I'm at it."

"We're do that once we get to Asylum and get rested up." Said Xigolo. "But first," Xigolo then looked at a burning console. "We get a new ship." He then went over to the cockpit. "Koth. You better land this thing somewhere hidden. This thing isn't going to hold for long. Got to steal a ship from somewhere. Preferably one with a hyperdrive."

"Yeah I know." Said Koth as he piloted the ship. "Stabilizers are shot, and the fuel lines are leaking. This thing isn't going to hold much longer. Hopefully it'll hold until we get to the Endless Swamp, we can bury our ship and hide out for a while, think of a plan to get a new ship."

"Uh." Said Mako as she heard Koth's plan. "Trekking in a swamp. Just what we needed."

"Come on, Mako." Said Xigolo. "It'll build up your immune system. Plus, think of all the cool animals that we'll get to meet."

"Cool animals that will kill us the second that they lay eyes on us. No thanks, Xigolo." Said Mako as she went back to trying to stabilize the ship and put out fires.

"Statement: I think meeting the native fauna will be most enjoyable." Said the HK unit as it brought out its blaster. "This unit needs more kills to its name."

"Don't worry, HK." Said Xigolo. "You'll get your kills. That is if Koth can land without killing us."

"I heard that." Said Koth as he resumed flying. Xildroll shook his head before thinking of how bad of a predicament they were in.

"**No matter what resources the Eternal Empire throws at me, I will topple it."** Swore Xildroll. "**They will rue the day that they let me live."** Xildroll then got up and looked at the cockpit window, already thinking of ways to win against the Eternal Empire.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Bobywhy- Well, the initial intention for Lana was for her to act like that older sister that keeps her brothers in line, but if enough people ask or demand it, I can make her fall in love with Xigolo, but not Xildroll. Xildroll is staying with only Ashara and Acina. Xigolo is the one with the Harem.**

**Also Xigolo's name was the result of the random name generator from when you create your character. Any similarities to any words are purely coincidence. (I didn't even know there was a word like Gigolo.)**

* * *

**Endless Swamp**

* * *

"Shit, we just lost an engine!" Yelled Koth as he tried to pilot their ship and failing. "We're going down! I'm going to try to minimize the impact, but you all better brace yourselves!"

"Got it!" Yelled Xigolo as he radioed Lana to land near them, saying they're going to crash. After getting an answer, he held onto his seat. "Better brace both you and Xildroll, Mako! We're going in hard!"

"Kind of hard to do when I'm treating him!" Yelled Mako before looking over at her datapad and cursing. "Look, we'll have to finish this later. If you take it easy for the next few hours, you'll be fine." Xildroll just nodded as he braced himself along with Mako.

"Statement: All meatbags are going to die." Said the HK unit, now known to Xildroll as HK-55, Lana's personal droid assistant/assassin. Based off of HK line, primarily HK-51, HK-55 had the same quirks as all the other models, but with updated hardware. Speaking of the HK line, he wondered what happened to HL-51. Considering that he was with Cypher Nine, he assumed it was destroyed at Korriban along with her. Yet another thing that Arcann and his sister had to answer for.

"Blizz not going to die. Done worser crashes than this." Said Blizz, Xigolo's faithful Jawa companion. "Xigolo constantly crashes ship into asteroids. Gave me work to fix his crazy flying."

"They were tactical maneuvers and you know it!" Yelled Xigolo as he looked at Blizz. Before Mako could input in her own thoughts, the ship crashed, dragging through the ground, sending dirt all over the place, before stopping once it hit a wall.

Once everything had settled down, Koth looked at everyone.

"Everyone all right?" Asked Koth as he got out the pilot seat.

"Yeah, I'll live." Said Xigolo as he got up.

"Same." Said Mako as she helped Xildroll up.

"Blizz had worse." Said Blizz as he jumped off his seat.

"Reassurance: This unit has suffered no damage to its chassis." Said HK-55.

"That's good." Said Koth. "Let's get out of this thing before it decides to explode." Everyone nodded at that before getting off. Just as everyone got out, a single-fighter ship landed near them and out came Lana.

"Well, this complicates things." Said Lana as she saw their wrecked ship. "We're going to have to go back to the Spire and collect a new ship."

"Can it be done now?" Asked Xildroll as he let go of Mako, confident that he healed enough without anyone to help him walk.

"No." Said Lana as she placed her hands to her hips. "Too risky with the Spire on high alert. We'll have to wait in this swamp for a couple of days."

"Great." Said Xigolo before drawing out his blasters. "Hey Koth, are the native species to Zakuul edible?"

"Uhh…I think." Said Koth, scratching his head. "Honestly, I kind of skipped those kind of classes in my youth. Too boring and I felt like I didn't need them. Yeah, coming back to bite me."

"Ahh well, trial and error. We can do it." Said Xigolo as he watched some strange arachnid like creature with a red sack on its back walking away from them.

"Are you kidding me!?" Asked Mako. "You want to eat a random creature you have no idea on its biology!? You don't even know which parts are poisonous or not!?"

"Ehh…I've done it before with Torian." Said Xigolo as he prepared to fire on the creature. Before he could, HK-55 spoke up.

"Statement: I'm detecting a massive energy source coming nearby. Its not emitting any known signatures." Said HK. That caused everyone to look at it.

"How big?" Asked Xildroll, taking charge.

"Assessment: Large enough to qualify as a starship." Said HK. "Recommendation: We may want to investigate."

"I agree." Said Lana. "Considering the situation, we're in, it may be worth investigating."

"That and it gives us something to do." Said Xigolo as he holstered his blasters."

"Agreed." Said Xildroll before looking at everyone. "Before we go, who is in charge?" That caused Lana to step up.

"We talked about it before rescuing you and we agreed that, considering your skills in leadership, to make you our leader." Said Lana.

"Yeah, I'm best with small groups. Not leading armies." Said Xigolo. "And we'll need armies if we're going against the Eternal Empire. My crew and I will follow you to hell and back, man."

"So long as you keep the innocent safe, we're good." Said Koth.

"Statement: Master Lana Beniko has given this unit to Darth Imperius. If accepted, this unit will make you its new master." Said HK. Looking at everyone, Xildroll nodded before taking his new role as leader.

"Good." Said Xildroll. "First off, we need supplies. Mako, you and Blizz will stay and scavenge what you can from our crashed ship. Lana, if you can, find a clean water supply. The rest of you with me. We're investigating that mysterious signal." Everyone nodded before they took off for their assigned roles.

"Can't believe I get the boring assignment." Said Mako, a bit disappointed with her role.

"Not boring! Very fun!" Yelled Blizz as he went into the crashed ship, eager to put his Jawa skills into actions.

"Yeah, for a Jawa." Said Mako before going after her friend.

* * *

**Meanwhile**

**Later**

* * *

"Statement: I know have the highest number of kills." Said HK after blasting another spider creature, now known to them as Iknayid thanks to Koth, with ease.

"Yeah yeah. Whatever." Said Xigolo before casually blasting a flying creature that tried to bite him. "I let you have that one." Shaking his head, Xildroll spoke up, wanting to know about the situation with the Sith Empire and the galaxy as a whole.

"What's the situation with the Sith Empire? Who's on the Dark Council?" Asked Xildroll.

"Well, the twelve seats got shrunken down to just five. Done so that infighting amongst the councilors be reduced. Well, as reduced as you can with Sith. The new seats pretty much handle two or three responsibilities that the previous twelve did. For example, the spheres of military offense, defense, and strategy got rolled into one seat called the seat of military command. Seats for Ancient knowledge, your old seat, Sith philosophy, and mystery got rolled into a new seat called Sith doctrine. And the rest got rolled into three other seats called Civil Administration, Galactic Influence, and Scientific advancement. You can guess which ones got placed into what." Xildroll nodded at that.

"As for the Empire as a whole, it's a mess." Said Xigolo as he shook his head. "Most of the remaining competent, and a lot of incompetent, commanders got killed during the war with Zakuul. Only ones that I remember are Moff Pyron and admiral Zasha Raken. Same with Sith. Lot of the strong ones got killed off. Acina did what she could, but the resources they have to send to Zakuul is really hampering her ability to rebuild and take care of her citizens. Same with the republic for that matter." Xigolo shook his head. "Treaty with Zakuul restricted what warships each side can have and forces them to send resources to them. Not sure why, but the stated amount of resources are bleeding both Republic and Empire dry. Soon, there's not going be enough resources for either government to maintain warships and feed their people." Imagining Dromund Kaas, the capital of the Sith Empire, filled with starving people, caused by the treaty with Zakuul, caused Xildroll's blood to boil, his hatred for Zakuul growing.

"As for the dark council members?" Asked Xildroll after calming down.

"Darth Krovos is in charge of military. Remember her from that job on Kuat?" Asked Xigolo, causing Xildroll to nod. "Good head. Bit blood thirsty, but what Sith isn't. Vowrawn is in charge of logistics, same as his old seat just with more responsibilities. Some weird chick called Malora is in charge of scientific advancements." Upon hearing Malora, Xildroll thought he recognized it from somewhere but shook it off when Xigolo continued. "And the seat that your old one got absorbed to is owned by some low-level Sith called Anathel. No idea who he is and I frankly don't want to try. Last guy is called Darth Xarion. He's in charge of diplomacy and intelligence. Guy is a real mystery. And I mean the bad kind. Even Mako can't get much on the guy. All she has was that Xarion fought with Anathel over trade routes during the war with the Republic."

"So basically, aside from Vowrawn, the dark council is filled with unknowns." Said Xildroll.

"Basically." Said Xigolo. "Did some jobs for all of them. They got good heads, though that Malora is a bit crazy, except for Anathel. Guy is basically Thanaton but weaker and whinier. Do us all a favor and kill him. You don't even have to take back your seat, just kill him. I'm sure the rest of the Dark council and Acina won't mind."

"I would like my seat back." Said Xildroll. "I fought tooth and nail for that seat. It's mine until someone succeeds in beating me."

"That's the spirit." Said Xigolo. "Once this war with Zakuul is over, let's make plans to get your seat back." Before Xildroll could ask, HK-55 stopped.

"Statement: Found it." Said HK-55, pointing to a massive metal struct appearing over a small wall of stone. "Alert: Various wildlife is between us and the anomaly."

"Then we'll crush through them all." Said Xildroll as he gathered force lightning in his palms.

"That's the spirit too!" Laughed Xigolo before bringing out a lightsaber. The lightsaber that belonged to Xildroll's ancestor. "You'll need this." He then tossed the lightsaber, which Xildroll caught with the force. Looking at his lightsaber, he ignited it, revealing its crimson blade.

"It's good to be back." Said Xildroll before moving forward.

* * *

**Later**

* * *

"Pitiful." Said Xildroll before slicing the right legs off an Iknayid. The creature screamed as it fell to the ground. Xildroll was about to finish it off when he suddenly shot out force lightning at a larger Iknayid coming right at him, stunning it. With practiced ease, he force jumped on top of the Iknayid before stabbing it in the brain, killing it.

Seeing several Iknayid about to ambush Koth while he was shooting several others, Xildroll tossed his lightsaber at the Iknayids, using the force to direct the saber to cut through them all. After catching his saber, he watched as everyone else finished off the Iknayid.

"That was the last one." Said Xildroll after firing a missile at a fleeing Iknayid. "We're close to the signal, HK?"

"Statement: Correct. It's just over the ridge." Said HK as he escorted everyone to the anomaly. When they went over the ridge, they could see what the anomaly is.

"Hot damn." Said Xigolo, looking at what looked like to be a massive ship. About the size of a Terminus class star destroyer. Maybe a bit bigger. From what Xigolo could see, it had a massive armored prow, not dissimilar to the Republic's hammerhead cruisers, but were slopped back at the ends. It also go a massive side attachment to the left side.

"What is it?" Asked Xildroll as the group walked closer to the ship. "I've never seen such a thing in my life."

"No way." Said Koth, going ahead of everyone else, eyes wide. "It couldn't be." He then got inside the ship, via a hole in the exterior armor. As he inspected the insides, Koth gasped out loud in excitement. "It is! It goddamn is!" Koth then cheered loudly as everyone caught up. He then turned to everyone with a big goofy smile on his face. "Guys! This is the Gravestone! The Gravestone! Do you know what that means!?"

"Uh…no." Said Xigolo. Koth frowned at that and was about to speak when he suddenly remembered that they weren't from Zakuul.

"Oh shit. Forgot. Sorry." Said Koth with a smile. "This is the Gravestone! The one ship that managed to fight off the entire Eternal fleet and win!" Upon hearing that both Xigolo and Xildroll widened their eyes in amazement and disbelief. This single ship was capable of taking on that fleet. By itself?

"Forgive me for being skeptical, but that sounds implausible." Said Xildroll as he took some steps back, seeing the ship for all its glory. Well as much of it he can with it being stuck in the ground.

"Trust me, it can do it." Said Koth with a big goofy smile on his face as he took some steps back. "This must be fate, guys! The Gravestone! The actual Gravestone! I think destiny is smiling on us now?"

"Koth." Started Xigolo as he shook his head. "How many times have I told you that relying on things like fate and destiny will go bad?"

"And how many times have I told you that it can lead to great things?" Asked Koth, still with the smile on his face. "Well, whatever you guys think, we don't need to go to the spire. We can just fix this thing and we'll be golden." Xildroll nodded at that.

"If it's still space worthy and has a hyperdrive." Said Xildroll. "Can you fix it Koth?"

"Can I?" Asked Koth with an incredulous tone. "You wound me, Xildroll. Just get me the right parts and tools, and I can fix anything." He then looked at a hole that led inside the ship. "Hmm…looks like some wildlife chewed their way inside. Might have to do some extermination while we're fixing the ship."

"Hopefully they haven't destroyed any important bits." Said Xigolo.

"You and me both, man." Said Koth as he drew out his blaster before looking at Xildroll. "Coming with?" Xildroll nodded before looking at HK.

"Remain on guard, keep any wildlife from coming inside and inform us if you see any Eternal Empire forces. Only engage if you're certain you can kill them without them raising an alarm."

"Understood, master." Said HK-55 before departing for its duties. With that, the group left for the difficult task of cleaning out an ancient ship.

* * *

**Lana**

* * *

"Damn." Said Lana as she finished inspecting the last water purifier in the swamps. Like the last two, this one was damaged beyond repair. "Looks like I'll have to find a natural pond." With that, she summoned a probe and had it scan for any significant sources of water that was safe for humans to drink. Once it received its orders, it left to go find a pond.

Sighing, Lana wondered what to do now that they have Darth Imperius back. Back during the Galactic War, he was one of the best commanders that the Sith had, wielding great authority in the navy with his silencer fleet. He was known for having a heavy hand against the Republic, decimating their forces whenever he was on the battlefield and sabotaging them, even when he worked with the Republic. Despite that though, he was as honorable as a Sith can be. Although she should really say pragmatic as he was known for doing things logically and if it benefits him and the empire.

If sparing an enemy would give him and the Empire more benefits than killing them, he'll do it. The situation with Grand Marshall Cheketta back in the Cold War an example. He was also known for trying to minimize the amount of damage that was caused by Sith infighting, whether by him or by other Sith. During his fight with Thanaton, he tried everything he can to spare as many Imperial lives as possible, only killing them when it was necessary. This caused some Sith to view him as weak, but others, like Acina and Marr, they respected his vision and foresight. The Empire needed as many soldiers as it could get to face the larger Republic. They would have won the war long ago if the Sith would just stopped fighting amongst themselves.

If anyone can stop the Eternal Empire, it was Xildroll. Humming to herself, Lana wondered how they can get the Empire on their side when she sensed something wrong. Frowning, Lana hid behind a large tree and spotted an Eternal Empire dropship coming down near her position. It then offloaded a bunch of Skytroopers and two Knights of Zakuul.

"Spread out!" Yelled one of the knights. "The traitors are here somewhere!" As the group disbursed, Lana cursed. This was not what they needed at the moment.

Running to find a more secure hiding spot, Lana contacted everyone via a secure channel.

"Listen up, everyone, we got trouble. The Eternal Empire sent troops to find us. Be on your guard." Said Lana as she ran.

"Got it." Said Mako. "We're almost done with the shuttle. We're moving towards the others position."

"Statement: Shall I eliminate them, master Beniko?" Asked HK-55

"Only if you have no choice, HK." Said Lana as she received a notification from her droid, indicating it found a pure source of water. "We need to keep hidden until we find a space-worthy ship."

"Understood." Said HK-55 as he stood guard over the Gravestone.

"**Force, we better get out of here safely." **Thought Lana as she ran for her droid. **"Might have to make a call."**

* * *

**Thirty minutes later**

**Xigolo**

* * *

"Take that!" Yelled Xigolo as he launched a missile at a giant Iknayid, blowing its brains out. As the spider creature fell, Xigolo burned its smaller friends alive. As he was burning them, Xildroll was slicing and dicing a few others with Koth giving covering fire.

Cutting an Iknayid in half, Xildroll force crushed another. He then tossed the crushed on to another Iknayid to another one, dazing it until Xildroll placed his lightsaber in its brain.

"Man. You Sith know how to fight." Said Koth as he holstered his blaster. Looking around, he saw sliced Iknayids everywhere along with some burned ones.

"We Sith fight to win, Koth." Said Xildroll as he holstered his lightsaber. "In battle, all bets are off. Things like honor have no place on the battlefield."

"Even when it comes to saving citizens?" Asked Koth, pointedly, causing Xildroll to look at Koth.

"I prefer noncombatants." Said Xildroll before answering the question. "I generally avoid trying to harm citizens, but we can't save everyone."

"I get that." Said Koth. "But you Sith generally don't care you gets hurt in your wars."

"I take it you know about us?" Asked Xildroll, crossing his arms.

"A bit." Said Koth. "Lots of which haven't left me with much confidence in you. Lana is an exception. Ruthless, yeah, but doesn't like sacrificing innocents."

"I know we Sith don't have a good record when it comes to…" protecting the innocent"." Said Xildroll. "But I'm still loyal to my empire and its ideals. Do you have a problem with that?"

"Not really." Said Koth. "But the sacking of Coruscant? Balmorra? Even events on your own capital left me with a very negative opinion of you guys. You guys don't care who gets caught in the crossfire. All you care about is dealing death and winning, no matter what the cost. Both to your empire and innocent people." Looking at Koth, Xildroll could see that he was staring at him without fear. Or at least not showing it.

"I'm impressed, Koth." Said Xildroll, slightly impressed with Koth's blunt opinion of the Sith. "Most would be too scared to express their opinions openly to a Sith. For good reason, I admit." Xildroll then got right up Koth's face, who still wasn't showing his fear. "Your also fortunate that I'm more…let's say forgiving then most Sith because I guarantee that had you said that to most other Sith, you would be dead right now." Xildroll then backed off. "Tell me, if you have this opinion of the Sith, why help Lana save me?"

"Because Lana told me about you." Said Koth, honestly. "She told me that, despite the fact your…well being Sith, you care about the lives of civilians and try to minimize damage in your battles against the Republic. If it weren't for Lana, I wouldn't be trying to help free you."

"Hmph, I'll tell Lana I owe her one then." Said Xildroll. "If this will put you to ease, I swear I'll try to limit noncombatant casualties in Zakuul, like I did back during the war with the Republic. Is that sufficient?"

"For now." Said Koth. "But the second you hurt Zakuul more than necessary, we're through. Got it." Impressed by Koth's bluntness and naivety, Xildroll nodded.

"Very well." Said Xildroll before leaving. "That should be the last of the troublesome animals. You should start repairing the ship."

"Got it." Said Koth before following Xildroll. "Need to fix the engines first, so we can actually leave Zakuul."

"Get on it then." Said Xildroll as Xigolo followed them, having finished searching for more Iknayids. "Its only a matter of time before the Eternal Empire finds us."

* * *

**Few hours later**

* * *

It turns out the Eternal Empire did find them. After hours of searching, they found the Gravestone and saw HK and Mako fixing some of the Gravestone's outer paneling. And now, Xigolo, Xildroll, Lana, and HK were fighting the Eternal Empire forces while Mako, Blitz, and Koth were trying to fix the Gravestone enough for it to take off.

"Take that!" Yelled Xigolo as he fired his blasters at the couple of Skytroopers, blasting their heads off. He then dodged a rocket from a Skytrooper equipped with a rocket launcher. He was about to blast it when a knight of Zakuul came and tried to stab at him with their pike. Boosting away, Xigolo fired a hail of blaster bolts at the knight, who tried to deflect them all, but was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of bolts and died when several hit their head. Landing on his feet, he saw HK threw a grenade at a bunch of Skytroopers, sending their parts all over the place. He was about to congratulate the droid when a dropship appeared, attached below it was a Zakuul walker.

"Oh, you got to be kidding me!" Yelled Xigolo as the walker detached from the dropship and landed before the mismatched group. Aiming its main gun at Xigolo, the walker was about to fire when everyone heard the sound of a speeder approaching. Looking around, Xigolo eventually found it in the form of a woman in white armor approaching from the rear of the walker. Not showing any fear, the woman brought out a blue colored lightsaber. Slicing through the one leg of the walker, the woman then jumped off her speeder and let it crash into a group of knights. She then landed in front of Xigolo, ignoring the explosion that took out the knights as well as the falling walker. Xildroll, upon seeing the woman, brought out his lightsaber in defense, but Lana stopped him.

"She's with us." Said Lana as she ran up to the woman and Xigolo, with Xildroll and HK following. "Long story short, she's called Senya. She used to work for the Knights of Zakuul, but now she fights Arcann and his reign."

"How did you convince one of them to work with you?" Asked Xildroll as reinforcements showed up in the form of Skytroopers and knights of Zakuul.

"Not all of us follow Arcann blindly." Said Senya as she took an unknown lightsaber stance. "Some of us disagree with how he runs our people."

"I hope you don't have a problem with killing your own people Senya." Said Lana as the knights moved in front of the Skytroops and readied themselves for a fight.

"I may have reservations with killing my people, but if they get in my way…" Said Senya as she glared at the knights, causing Xildroll to snort.

"I see you found a pragmatic knight. Good for us, I suppose." Said Xildroll as he gathered force lightning in one palm, lightsaber in his other one.

"Stow the chatter." Said Senya coldly. "Prove your worth in battle."

"***laughs* **I like this one." Said Xildroll as he fired force lightning at one knight, frying them completely. And so battle once again commenced.

* * *

**Ten minutes later**

* * *

"HK, watch out for that guy in the right!" Yelled Xigolo before blasting the Skytrooper that was about to take out HK from his right.

"Statement: Your assistance was not required, but welcomed nonetheless." Said HK before listing a bunch of Skytrooper with precise shots to the head, either blowing holes in them or sending them flying from their bodies. Xildroll did the same by sending a force storm towards of group of bunched up Skytroopers, causing them to explode with his power.

But no matter how many Skytroopers and knights they kill, more came to replace them. Everyone tried their best, but eventually a group of knights managed to separate Xildroll from the others, using the force to place metal shards around them and Xildroll, creating a barrier.

"Damn you!" Yelled Xigolo as he tried to fly over the barrier, only for a knight to grab him with the force and send him crashing down to the ground. Disoriented, Xigolo couldn't do much as a knight came at him, pike at the ready.

"No!" Yelled Lana as she force pushed the knight. This, however, left her vulnerable to another knight that charged right at her with his lightsaber pike. Turning around, Lana widened her eyes as the knight aimed his pike at her chest.

As this was transpiring, Xildroll sensed the danger his friends and allies were in and tried to use the force to lift the barrier around him. Unfortunately, the knights with him used their combined force power to push him against a metal slab, forcing him to his knees. They then brought out their lightsaber pikes and were about to ignite them when they suddenly froze up. Looking up, Xildroll was shocked to see everything around him suddenly stopped. Not just the knights, but everything around him. He could sense that Lana, Xigolo, even Senya was frozen in time, along with everything else in the world. As he tried to make sense of this, a voice spoke up. One that he hoped to never hear again.

"Your people are outmatched." Said the an old man's voice as he appeared before Xildroll, wearing the same white and silver armor that he wore when Xildroll killed him. The same Sith eyes that hid the evil within his spirit. "You need my power to save them."

Turning around, Xildroll glared at the man. The same person that had caused the Empire so much grief and pain in recent years. That tried to kill them all for his own selfish goals. The former emperor of the Eternal Empire. Valkorion or what Xildroll preferred to call him, Vitiate, the former Sith emperor.

"Vitiate." Said Xildroll, anger in his tone. "I should have known that it was too much to hope that I killed you back when I thrusted my lightsaber in your chest."

"***Chuckles* **Come now. You know better than most that its near impossible to kill me." Said Valkorion as he walked besides Xildroll. "After all, you where there on Yavin when I was resurrected by that foolish Revan."

"Cut to the chase." Said Xildroll, not in the mood for any of Vitiate's games. "What do you want?"

"Impudent as ever." Said Valkorion, not looking at Xildroll. "Very well. Your Sith friend is on the cusp of dying. You know this. Nothing can save her in time. Nothing, but my powers." Upon hearing that, Xildroll looked at Vitiate.

"You want me to use your powers. Want me to give you control." Said Xildroll, causing Vitiate to nod.

"Just let me take control for a moment. Do it and I'll save your friend." Said Valkorion. "It's the only way to save her." Xildroll, upon hearing this, pondered on this.

On one hand, Lana was someone he respected immensely. She was one of the few Sith that knew when to restrain their anger and use diplomacy when needed. She was also a skilled fighter and knew that one needed to lose a few battles to win the war. She was too valuable to lose now.

But on the other, Xildroll knew more than others that allowing a spirit to take control of your body has the risk of them taking over and using your body for their own nefarious purposes. Remembering the spirits that he absorbed when he faced Thanaton, he remembered how close he was to dying and losing his minds to them. How they kept him up at night with their whispers and hate towards him for taking them from their resting places. Eventually, he had to expel them from his body, for the risk to his body was too much for it to take without destroying him. And now he had Vitiate in his mind, offering to save his friend if he let Xildroll give him control.

A part of him wanted to do it, to save Lana, but he also knew that doing so was too dangerous. To let Vitiate take control of him was a recipe for disaster. Vitiate with his body would be nearly unstoppable. Remembering all the disasters that Vitiate had done to both the Republic and Empire when he was free, heck even when he was a spirit, made Xildroll refuse his offer.

"I refuse to give you control of my body, even for a moment." Said Xildroll, taking a stance on his former emperor. Sensing that Xildroll won't budge, Vitiate shook his head.

"So disappointing." Said Valkorion before letting Xildroll back into the real world.

Now that time has restarted, Lana was about to receive a lightsaber pike to the chest when Koth, Mako, and Blizz arrived to gun down the knight that was about to kill her along with any Skytroopers and knights that were in their field of fire.

"Keep fighting, they're letting up!" Yelled Koth as Mako tossed a grenade at a group of Skytroopers, taking them out. With the reinforcements, Senya and Lana began to fight back with more vigor. Sensing his allies were going to make it, Xildroll summoned his immense force powers and focused in a single ball of force power. Without warning, he sent it flying at the three knights. Once it hit them, they were sent flying away, either breaking their necks on the fall down or breaking their backs on some trees that they hit. With them out of the way, Xildroll force jumped over the makeshift barrier and landed amongst a group of Skytroopers. Before the droids could react, Xildroll grabbed them all with the force and then crushed them into tiny balls of metal.

"**I don't need Vitiate to win against these fools."** Thought Xildroll as he fought back against the Eternal Empire forces. As he fought, he heard a chuckle from Vitiate, as if mocking his determination.

"We shall see, Darth Imperius." Said Valkorion as Xildroll killed a knight of Zakuul. "We shall see."

* * *

**Half an hour later**

* * *

After half an hour of fighting, dodging lightsaber thrusts, blaster bolts, and covering each other's backs, the group finally prevailed against the Eternal Empire forces. They were exhausted, but they finally prevailed.

"Yeah." Said Koth as he panted, a smile on his face. "Take that Arcann. You're going to need a lot more than just knights and Skytroopers to win against us."

"Yeah." Said Xigolo as he got up with the help of Mako. "Now let's get out of here before more show up. We ain't got the supplies for another firefight."

"Agreed." Said Lana, more energetic than the others due to the force. "We need to leave now before Arcann decides to send a star cruiser after us."

"Agreed." Said Senya as she walked towards Koth and Lana. "Now is the time to recoup ourselves and prepare ourselves for the future."

"Whoa!" Yelled Koth as he saw Senya, eyes wide as plates. "Why the hell is she here?!"

"I've come to join you." Said Senya simply, crossing her arms. "Lana contacted me sometime ago, saying you needed my help. And I'm here. Now let's go."

"Oh no! No way am I working with the woman that tried to capture/kill me several times!" Yelled Koth as he looked at Lana, who sighed.

"We don't have time for this, Koth!" Yelled Lana, glaring at Koth. "We need to leave now or the Eternal empire will catch us!"

"Enough stalling!" Ordered Xildroll, having enough of this bickering. "We leave now! End of discussion!" Grumbling, Koth did as he was ordered and left to get the ship started with all the none force users. With that done, Xildroll looked at the Gravestone. "Now with that done, I suppose we need to use the force to lift this hunk of junk."

"You're correct on that, Darth Imperius." Said Lana, looking at her friend. "I hope that time in Carbonite hasn't tampered with your ability to use the force too much."

"Just watch." Said Xildroll as he used the force to lift the Gravestone. Soon, both Lana and Senya were augmenting his strength with their own. After a few tense seconds, the three force users managed to lift the Gravestone from the ground, moving rock and dirt from the ship as they lifted it free from its confinement.

**Gravestone bridge.**

"Holy shit." Said Koth as he felt the Gravestone move. Even with the inertial dampeners on, he still felt the ship move from the ground. "I don't believe it."

"Believe it." Said Xigolo. "This isn't the most impressive feat of force using I've seen in my short time in this galaxy."

"You can say that." Said Mako as she looked at her friend from her seat in the bridge, serving as radar operator for the ship. "The only question is, will it be enough against Arcann and the Eternal Empire?" Xigolo just looked to the ground.

"It has to, Mako." Said Xigolo. "It has to."

* * *

**Few minutes later  
Orbit above Zakuul**

* * *

"Hang on people! The Eternal Fleet is right on top of us!" Yelled Mako as she saw multiple ships of the same class appeared out of nowhere from hyperspace.

"God damn, there must be hundreds of them!" Yelled Xigolo as he watched the Eternal fleet come up in visual scanners. "Arcann must really want us dead!"

"Good. I want that." Said Xildroll as he crossed his arms.

"Uh…did that time in Carbonite make you go crazy or something?" Asked Koth as he braced himself for a one sided fight. "HK! Work on the hyperdrive! Blizz should have it done by now! Lana, the shields! We also need a gunner!"

"I got it!" Yelled Xigolo as he raced towards the gunner section of the ship.

"Let's hope this piece of junk lives up to the legends, Koth." Said Xildroll as he watched the Eternal fleet aimed their guns at them.

"It will." Said Koth with confidence as the Eternal fleet fired, hitting the Gravestone multiple times with turbolaser fire. "And can you quit calling the Gravestone a piece of junk? It's hurtful."

"I'll stop when…" Xildroll couldn't say anymore when an explosion knocked him off his feet along with Senya. Fires then began to spout all over the ship as the hull continued to be peppered with shots.

"Xigolo! Fire the damn gun!" Yelled Xildroll as he got up, only to drop to the ground again as another barrage of turbolaser fire blasted the ship.

"Don't worry! I got them!" Yelled Xigolo as he aimed the main gun at the big group of Eternal ships. "This is for the Voidhound and the rest of my mates, you sons of bitches." With that Xigolo fired the main gun.

At that moment, parts of the Gravestone's forward prow moved up, making a hammerhead prow before glowing dull green. It continued to charge up until the dull green turned bright and several green lines of energy began to connect with the Gravestone's cannon. Once this happened, the Gravestone fired a bright green blast of energy that hit Xigolo's intended target, obliterating it. But it didn't stop there, the green energy then began to spread out, hitting other ships and destroying them as well. And then the process began again. It kept occurring over and over again until over two dozen ships were destroyed.

"Oh my god." Said Koth in awe as he saw this happen. "The legends were real."

"The Gravestone is capable of combatting the Eternal Fleet." Said Senya, also in awe, along with everyone else.

"Guess your silencers got some competition, eh, Xildroll." Said Mako as she looked at the Sith, who simply stayed silent, processing this recent development.

"Statement: Hyperdrive is now functioning at minimal capacity. We can now safely jump away from the system." Said HK as he finished contacting Blizz from engineering.

"Why the hell didn't you say that sooner!?" Yelled Koth before looking back at the fleet. "Get us out of here!" With that, HK inputted the coordinates for the nearest safe location and had the ship jump out of Zakuul.

* * *

**Meanwhile**

**Arcann**

* * *

Arcann, who had saw the battle in real time from his throne room, was enraged, but kept it under control.

Two dozen ships were lost in a single shot. The Gravestone was as powerful as the stories claimed it to be. Perhaps even more. And now the Outlander, the one that killed Valkorion had it. That was bad.

The Outlander, known to his people as Darth Imperius, was an expert tactician. He knew when to be a diplomat or warrior when the situation called for it. His Silencer fleet was the stuff of nightmares for republic forces. And his skills on the battlefield were unmatched aside from a select few individuals in the Sith empire and Republic.

Arcann wasn't afraid of Imperius, though. No. He was confident that he can take him down in a one on one fight. What he was afraid was the impact Imperius will have. He had fought tooth and nail to get what he was at the height of the Sith Empire. From lowly slave to a Dark Council member. Killing any that stood in his goals. He'll need to capture him soon. Or else his empire will suffer setbacks he couldn't afford to happen.

His sister, the one person of his family that stood by him during these times, giggled.

"Well, that was a show." Said Vaylin with a smirk. "Two dozen ships lost in a single shot? The Gravestone is as impressive as they claimed it to be. And now its in the lands of the one that killed our former emperor. What will you do now, brother?" Arcann just flexed his robotic fingers.

"To do what I should have done five years ago." Said Arcann as he got up from his throne. "Killing the outlander."


End file.
